The benchmark citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain is the Spanish Seville orange, Citrus aurantium var. aurantium, prized for its high pectin content, which gives a good set. The peel has a distinctive bitter taste which it imparts to the marmalade.

Marmalade is generally distinguished from jam by its fruit peel. It may also be distinguished from jam by the fruits used.

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The Romans learned from the Greeks that quinces slowly cooked with honey would "set" when cool (though they did not know about fruit pectin). Greek μελίμηλον (melimēlon, "honey fruit") transformed into Galician-Portuguese"marmelo"—for in Greek μῆλον (mēlon, "apple") stood for all globular fruits, and most quinces are too astringent to be used without honey. A Roman cookbook attributed to Apicius gives a recipe for preserving whole quinces, stems and leaves attached, in a bath of honey diluted with defrutum—Roman marmalade. Preserves of quince and lemon appear—along with rose, apple, plum and pear—in the Book of ceremonies of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, "a book that is not only a treatise on the etiquette of imperial banquetting in the ninth century, but a catalogue of the foods available and dishes made from them."[1]

Medieval quince preserves, which went by the French name cotignac, produced in a clear version and a fruit pulp version, began to lose their medieval seasoning of spices in the 16th century. In the 17th century, La Varenne provided recipes for both thick and clear cotignac.[2]

In 1524, Henry VIII received a "box of marmalade" from Mr Hull of Exeter.[3] As it was in a box, this was likely to have been marmelada, a quince paste from Portugal, still made and sold in southern Europe. Its Portuguese origins can be detected in the remarks in letters to Lord Lisle, from William Grett, 12 May 1534, "I have sent to your lordship a box of marmaladoo, and another unto my good lady your wife" and from Richard Lee, 14 December 1536, "He most heartily thanketh her Ladyship for her marmalado".[2]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "marmalade" appeared in the English language in 1480, borrowed from Frenchmarmelade which, in turn, came from the Galician-Portuguesemarmelada. According to José Pedro Machado’s Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa,[4] the oldest known document where this Portuguese word is to be found is Gil Vicente’s play Comédia de Rubena, written in 1521:

The extension of "marmalade" in the English language to refer to citrus fruits was made in the 17th century, when citrus first began to be plentiful enough in England for the usage to become common.

In Portuguese, according to the root of the word, which is marmelo, "quince", marmelada is a preserve made from quinces, quince cheese. Marmelo in turn derives from Latinmelimelum, "honey apple",[6] which in turn comes from the earlier Greekμελίμηλον (melímēlon),[7] from "μέλι" (meli), "honey"[8] + "μήλον" (mēlon), "apple".[9]

In languages other than English, "marmalade" can mean preserves made with fruit other than citrus. The name originates in Portuguese, where marmelada applies exclusively to quince jam (from "marmelo", the Portuguese for quince).[10][11] In Spanish the term usually refers to what in English is called jam (and jalea is similar to the American English jelly). In Italian too, marmellata means every jam and marmalade.

In some continental Europe languages, Polish for instance, a word sharing a root with "marmalade" refers to all gelled fruit conserves, and those derived from citrus fruits merit no special word of their own. Due to British influence, however, only citrus products may be sold as "marmalade" in the European Union (with certain exceptions[clarification needed]), which has led to considerable complaints from those countries.[citation needed]

In some German speaking areas Marmelade is the traditional designation for any kind of jam and marmalade (especially smooth jam without visible pieces of fruit) regardless of fruit base, and remains so in everyday language in spite of EU regulation which limit the term Marmelade to citrus-based preserves to minimise international confusion. Because of the persisting traditional usage and given that the alternative term Konfitüre (originally used specifically for jam with visible pieces of fruit) is foreign to Austrian German, a special exception has been granted for Austria where non-citrus-based preserves may continue to be marketed regionally as Marmelade.[citation needed]

The Scottish city of Dundee has a long association with marmalade.[12][13] James Keiller and his wife Janet ran a small sweet and preserves shop in the Seagate section of Dundee.[13] In 1797, they opened a factory to produce "Dundee Marmalade",[14] a preserve distinguished by thick chunks of bitter Seville orange rind. The business prospered, and remains a signature marmalade producer today.[15]

According to a Scottish legend, the creation of orange marmalade in Britain occurred by accident. The legend tells of a ship carrying a cargo of oranges that broke down in the port of Dundee, resulting in some ingenious locals making marmalade out of the cargo.[16][13]

^Klein’s Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language

^Melimelon, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library

^μέλι, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library

^μήλον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library

^Wilson, C. Anne. The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History and Its Role in the World Today (Together with a Collection of Recipes for Marmalades and Marmalade Cookery), University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. Revised Edition 1999. ISBN 0-8122-1727-6

Mathew, W. M. Keiller's Of Dundee: The Rise of the Marmalade Dynasty 1800-1879.

Mathew, W. M. The Secret History of Guernsey Marmalade.

Wilson, C. Anne (1985). The Book of Marmalade: its antecedents, its history and its rôle in the world today together with a collection of recipes for marmalades & marmalade cookery. Constable. ISBN0-09-465670-3.